Which gardening tools would you buy?

If you are buying a garden spade or garden fork for the first time I would go for a stainless steel spade and fork but in the smaller lighter size. Some might call it the lady's size but for many men and women they are lot easier to use and for virtually every job in the garden I use those all the time instead of the traditional bigger ones.

We need to ask you some questions before we can give you a comprehensive answer.
Do you already have some tools and want to add to your collection? or are you buying from scratch?.
Are they for your own personal use, your garden, large or small, or for an allotment large or small.
Or are you thinking of starting a business.?
As Inverglen says, stainless steel is the best for spades and forks. You need a plate on any spade for your feet.

Thanks for your replies. I already have a few bits and pieces, but would really like to start from scracth as they are not in great condition. I have a medium sized garden, with beds and borders as well as a lawn. Certainly not thinking of starting a busines...but who knows what the future holds. My uncle suggested 'Bulldog' Tools has anyone heard of them? or if they are any good...he said his have lasted for years but i'm not sure...
Thanks again

Hi again Cooltrimmer,
Yes I have certainly heard of Bulldog tools, also "Never Bend" and of course Wilkinsons.
B&Q or Homebase are a good place to start, they will have a wide range of tools. You could Google garden tools in general.
The smaller size spades and forks as said by Inverglen are best for your garden, but there is a three quarter size.
Also you will need a garden rake, a dutch hoe, a trowel and hand fork, hand shears and edging shears, also a spring rake for the lawn.

Many thanks, ill get shopping!

Cooltrimmer,
Buy the best quality Bypass Secateurs you can afford, I wish I did instead of wasting my money on several cheaper ones. Good luck with your gardening.

Hello Cooltrimmer, I agree with above comments, I have a small stainless steel spade and fork which are nice and light to use and like Ams said, quite important as far as I'm concerned too, get a good pair of quality secateurs, my are Felco. Good luck.

I bought a good stainless steel spade and garden fork over 25 years ago and they are still going strong - a very good investment (and they were the smaller, 'ladies' size).
I'd aslo recommend Felco secateurs - not cheap but excellent quality and last for years too.
A hand trowel is a must and a pruning saw for larger branches (you can buy these where the blade folds into the handle when not in use for about a tenner at a decent Garden Centre)

I agree with Ams, Dawnsaunt and Andrewr about the Secateurs - Felco are the best and every part of them is replaceable so last for ever - really top quality.

Wilkinson Sword are a very good make for spades, forks etc.

Wagger, you remind me of Arkwrights broom - he boasted he only ever owned one broom but it had 10 replacement brushes and 5 broom handles.

Oh, I like that Ams, chuckle - to be fair to Felco, I've had my secateurs for years and have only had to replace the spring between the handles which I lost.

Yes Wagger, Felco are great, I have a pair of their secateurs which I bought in 1962 and they have just about become unusable. In their day they have done more than a million cuts.
They cost me 17/6d, a days wages then.

DocBob, your Felco's are about the same age as me, I've got alot of cuts to do to catch up with you, lol. My husband bought me mine for my birthday 7 years ago (it was what I wanted!) and they were something like £45.00, and I got the pruning saw like Andrew describes free, mine are the smallish ones. You can send them away to be serviced every year apparently! I agree with you Andrew about a good trowel and hand fork too, mine are stainless steel and are brilliant - have you ever used one of those cheap trowels that just bend!

thanks for all your responses, i might invest in a pair of felco secateurs then! I just did some research into the Bulldog brand. Says that they still manufacture in the UK, which sounds pretty impressive to me, i like to support homegrown stuff as much as i can, instead of all the imports from the Far East! I think ill wait till one of the RHS shows and have a good look at everything there.

Dawn, now you've given your age away, but I promise I won't tell anyone. I forgot to say 17s/6d is 87 and a half p. What a difference.
I've still got a rake head from good old Woolworths, bought for 6d. (2 and a half p) the handle was 1d.

Sorry if someone has said this already, but for me it's a Dutch Hoe every time! This has a small head that you can use to 'scrape' the surface of the soil inbetween your plants and cuts weeds off just below the soil surface. They have a longish handle so you can reach well into the border. Because the head in quite small, it's lighweight to use. It's much better on the back than bending to weed or cultivate. I'd choose one with a wooden handle, as wood is much more comfy to hold onto as it does not get too cold or hot depending on the weather.

Avoid anything that you wouldn't have found in your granddads shed - things like the 'garden claw' - they are just gimmicks and are pointless.

Dutch Hoe is definately a great tool, i'll be getting a new one of them for sure! One last question...would you purchase stainless steel or steel spades/forks? I also saw some copper ones on sale the other week, but surely that is one of these gimmicks on the environment, i think they'd bend in my soil!

Go for stainless steel every time, copper may have had a steel edge on it, but it's a no no from me.
The stainless steel hoe comes shaped like a golf club. Mind you don't get a hole in one. Lol.

b-boom Drb! I haven't a clue what sort of metal my tools are made from - they don't rust tho!
Glad to be of help Cooltrimmer :-)